Surat–Chennai Expressway
Surat–Chennai Expressway
Also known as Surat–Chennai Economic Corridor
1,271 km
Being built
2 states
Expressway
Route
Surat–Chennai Expressway runs 1,271 km from Kabilpore, Gujarat to Akkalkot, Maharashtra.
Crosses Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Through Kabilpore, Nashik, Loni, Ahilyanagar, Ashti, Barshi and Akkalkot.
Why it matters
Freight between western and southern India currently detours through Mumbai or Hyderabad. This corridor gives it a straight line, and along the way it connects a series of second-tier industrial cities — Nashik, Solapur, Kalaburagi, Kurnool — directly to two major ports.
History
The Surat–Chennai Expressway is one of the longest of the new economic corridors, cutting diagonally across the country from the textile city of Surat in Gujarat to Chennai on the east coast. It threads through six states by way of Nashik, Ahilyanagar, Solapur, Kalaburagi, Kurnool and Tirupati, joining a string of industrial cities that have never had a direct road between them — today the trip means going the long way round through Mumbai or Hyderabad.
Good to know
- One of India's longest expressway projects, running diagonally across the peninsula.
- Passes through Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
- Built to cut the Surat–Chennai drive from around thirty-five hours to roughly sixteen.
- It links Surat's textile and diamond trade with the ports and factories of the south-east.
- Part of the Bharatmala programme of new national corridors.
On the road
Being built and opened in sections; whole stretches in Maharashtra and Karnataka are finished while others are still under construction.
More details
- Lanes
- 4–6 lanes, access-controlled, land acquired for 8